Connecticut General Statutes 35-11b – Disqualifications of marks for registration
A mark in use in Connecticut by which the goods or services of any applicant for registration may be distinguished from the goods or services of others shall be registered unless it (1) consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter; or (2) consists of or comprises matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs or national symbols, or which may bring them into contempt or disrepute; or (3) consists of or comprises the flag or coat of arms or other insignia of the United States, or of any state or municipality, or of any foreign nation, or of the United Nations, or any simulation thereof; or (4) consists of or comprises the name, signature or portrait identifying a particular living individual, except with the individual’s written consent; or (5) consists of a mark which (A) when used on or in connection with the goods or services of the applicant is merely descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of them, or (B) when applied to the goods or services of the applicant is primarily geographically descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of them, or (C) is primarily merely a surname, provided nothing in this subsection shall prevent the registration of a mark used in this state by the applicant which has become distinctive of the applicant’s goods or services. The Secretary of the State may accept as evidence that the mark has become distinctive, as applied to the applicant’s goods or services, proof of substantially exclusive and continuous use thereof as a mark by the applicant in this state for the five years next preceding the date of the filing of the application for registration; or (6) consists of or comprises a mark which so resembles a mark registered in this state or a mark or trade name used in this state by another prior to the use by the applicant and not abandoned, as to be likely, when used on or in connection with the goods or services of the applicant, to cause confusion or to cause mistake or to deceive purchasers; or (7) consists of or comprises a mark which so resembles a mark previously registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by another and not abandoned, as to be likely, when applied to the goods or services of the applicant, to cause confusion or to cause mistake or to deceive purchasers, unless the applicant commenced use of the mark in this state prior to the granting of the federal registration.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 35-11b
- another: may extend and be applied to communities, companies, corporations, public or private, limited liability companies, societies and associations. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- mark: includes any trademark or service mark entitled to registration under this chapter whether registered or not. See Connecticut General Statutes 35-11a
- trade name: includes words and names lawfully adopted and used by any person engaged in any business, trade, occupation or vocation to identify such business, trade, occupation or vocation whether or not registered, filed or recorded under any law of the state of Connecticut, or of any other state, or of the United States. See Connecticut General Statutes 35-11a
- trademark: means any word, name, symbol or device or any combination thereof used by a person to identify and distinguish the goods of such person, including a unique product, from those goods made or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods, even if that source is unknown. See Connecticut General Statutes 35-11a
- use: means the bona fide use of a mark in the ordinary course of trade, and not made merely to reserve a right in a mark. See Connecticut General Statutes 35-11a